Pressure is telling on Gaddafi: PM

Friday 27 May 2011 04:12 BST

Four Apache attack helicopters will be at the disposal of the Nato operation in Libya

David Cameron has insisted that the time is right to "ratchet up" the pressure on Muammar Gaddafi as he confirmed that Apache attack helicopters are being deployed for the campaign against the Libyan leader.

Amid intelligence reports claiming that the dictator's behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic, the Prime Minister said Gaddafi is "feeling the pressure".

He also played down an offer from Russia to mediate in the conflict, stressing that the only resolution involves Gaddafi leaving power.

"Now there are signs that the momentum against Gaddafi is really building," Mr Cameron told a press conference as the G8 summit ended in France. "We know that we're on the right side, we're doing the right thing, the pressure is telling."

Mr Cameron said he had thought "seriously" before approving the use of British Apaches in Libya.

Asked about reported remarks from the Russian foreign ministry, Mr Cameron - who had bilateral talks with President Dmitri Medvedev on Thursday night - said he did not "recognise a Russian offer to mediate". He added: "I think the most important thing is to send the same message down the pipe every time when one of these offers appears, which is Gaddafi has to go."

Mr Cameron said negotiations could take place "after Gaddafi has gone. Like many others I believe it is completely impossible to deliver (UN Security Council) resolution 1973 and protect people while Gaddafi is still there".

Mr Cameron was also quizzed on an apparent suggestion from French president Nicolas Sarkozy that they could visit the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi together. "President Sarkozy is always full of good ideas," he replied wryly.

John Baron, the only Conservative MP to oppose intervention in Libya in a parliamentary vote in March, warned that the deployment of Apaches represented a further escalation of the conflict which could put the mission outside the terms of UN resolution 1973.

"The bottom line is that, if we had that debate again and said we were going to be putting military advisers in on the ground and deploying Apache aircraft ... I think the debate might have taken on a different flavour. At what point does the resolution stop allowing Nato's air force and military intervention attacking Colonel Gaddafi?"